


you told me this is right where it begins

by drlecters



Category: IT (2017), IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King, IT Chapter Two - Fandom
Genre: :(((((, Eddie Kaspbrak Loves Richie Tozier, It Chapter Two, LIKE HELLA SPOILERS, M/M, Missing Scene, Spoilers, Unhappy Ending, eddie is in love with richie too so that’s what this is, fuck grammar like just fuck it idc, fuck y’all unreciprocated bs, gratuitous usage of book quotes, he still dies guys, incredibly emo over that shot of eddie holding richies jacket
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-07
Updated: 2019-09-07
Packaged: 2020-10-11 21:03:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,012
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20552669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/drlecters/pseuds/drlecters
Summary: “I promise. I’ll still be here when It’s dead.”Oh, but that felt like a lie.





	you told me this is right where it begins

Eddie’s breath still came in short bursts, hindered by the wound in addition to the blood. But it didn’t whistle. He wasn’t panicked. 

Richie’s hand was pressing his jacket against Eddie’s chest so hard his knuckles were white. Instead of watching, helping the others finish It for good, his attention was fully on Eddie. 

His eyes were humongous, so huge they could have been comical in any other situation. Eddie was scared, of course, but with Richie this close to him, holding him and touching him like he had wanted for decades even when he didn’t know he wanted it... Maybe this would be okay. 

_Not bad,_ he thought. _This is not bad at all._

Richie’s attention was fully on him, and the selfish part of him that wanted him there until the end was grateful, but Eddie wasn’t a selfish person. He could see the rest of them, dwindled down to four, screaming at It and wearing it down. 

Eddie was out, of course... But they needed Richie. 

Eddie raised one hand to Richie’s tear-stained face and gently grasped his chin in one hand, turning his head so he could see them us well. He set his other hand on Richie’s wrist, the one that was holding pressure on his chest. 

He saw Richie’s eyes change and round with guilt. Eddie smiled softly, with less pain than earlier.

“They need you, Rich,” he said thickly. “It’s okay.”

“No, I-“

“I promise. I’ll still be here when It’s dead.”

_Oh, but that felt like a lie._

Richie looked back at him, looked him in the eyes, and then kissed him on the forehead. Not like the times when they were kids, but tenderly. Slowly. He allowed his lips to linger this time. 

And then he rested his forehead against Eddie’s, caressed his cheek. They were both filthy and covered in Eddie’s blood. He lingered a moment, the space between them thick with words unspoken and moments still forgotten. His eyes seemed to bore into Eddie’s soul with the intensity of his gaze, like he was preparing himself to go to war, instead of several feet away. Then he sprinted over to the others.

Eddie’s chest didn’t hurt anymore. He didn’t know if it was from the kiss, Richie’s jacket that he still held tightly against him, or the fact that he was watching his friends finish It for good.. He was seeing how brave they all really were, how it felt like they were avenging him. 

He saw Richie, eyes blazing, viciously tear a limb off the creature, the same one that had ripped through his chest, and chuckled softly. 

He felt like he had saved them. And that realization washed over him like a wave, soothing him and easing his nerves, taking away any remaining pain.

_Or maybe it was the shock setting in,_ he thought wildly. _Like pouring warm water over your bones. Wasn’t that how they described it?_

Eddie shifted slightly, still trying to watch them. He wanted to see them finish It for him. And for Stan. For George. For every soul lost to the bastard. But his eyelids were growing heavier by the second and his limbs had started to feel like he had weights strapped to them. 

He blinked blearily, trying desperately to keep his eyes open.

_You did good, Eds,_ a voice said. _You can rest now. Lay your head back. Close your eyes._

He didn’t know who that voice was but it seemed to be coming from his own brain. It sounded a lot like Richie. Not Richie Now, but Richie Then. 

When they were thirteen, fourteen and pinching and kicking each other to cover up how they really felt. Seeing how loud they could make the other scream at them, like it was a competition. Richie brushing his scabbed knuckles and calloused fingers against the inside of Eddie’s thigh, Eddie letting his calf rest against Richie’s neck just a second too long. Both of them pretending not to notice. 

But Then Richie would never have said that would he? He wouldn’t want Eddie to close his eyes. He told him to look at him, hadn’t he? 

He couldn’t extend his thoughts further than his own mind and body now. Now… Now he realized how badly this place really smelled. The stench of death and waste seemed to surround him, filling his every pore and orifice. He felt the panic he had thought he neatly averted start to creep under his skin. 

_He was going to die here. He really was._

He grasped desperately at Richie’s jacket with numb fingers. He used his remaining strength to lift it to his face. He didn’t think it could possibly still smell like him, after being down here for so long, going under water, using it to staunch the blood flow from the hole in Eddie’s chest...

_But it did. God, somehow it did._

He inhaled deeply… and on the exhale he felt the panic leave him again. All he was left with was Richie Richie Richie... flooding his insides. Filling him and his senses.

He felt clean now. Clean and whole and pure. Something he had never felt before unless he was with his friends. A feeling he had completely forgotten and missed desperately. The rot inside him, there since birth and steadily growing ever since, had vanished. He would know its presence better than any other, the weight in his lungs a constant reminder, but it was lost to the wind. 

_He wasn’t alone now. He could let go._

Eddie closed his eyes. Then opened them again. He wanted Richie to be the last thing he saw, brave and bold and beautiful. His hands joining the others to crush It’s heart. 

His mind brought the same memory from earlier to the surface, Richie on his knees and asking Eddie again and again to look at him. He still couldn’t remember the context or the meaning. 

He licked his lips, mulling it over. 

Eddie took one more breath, inhaling Richie’s scent again, and then he died.

**Author's Note:**

> I’m so sorry.. 
> 
> Title is from Is There Somewhere by Halsey, which I was listening to from my [reddie playlist](https://open.spotify.com/user/carsonw10/playlist/77Ra4OiBSTkzQQo2XmFQD0?si=JiQOnCw9TQ65tcEV20revw) while crying over these two bastards. You know how it goes.


End file.
